Yesterdaze: The ‘Crim’ in Recriminations
Comment
James Elliott bets the Government wishes its $2.75m in funding for a gang-led rehabilitation programme could have been anonymous. Meanwhile, National continues demanding a debate and tractors cross the rural-urban divide.
Another week, another leak from the colander that is the National Party. This week’s discharge came in the form of two documents showing that Don Brash was involved in trying to source funding to support a nationwide billboard campaign for National’s new ‘Demand the Debate’ campaign. In related news, it apparently costs about $300,000 to mount a ‘Demand the Debate’ nationwide billboard campaign. It’s much cheaper to mount a ‘Demand the Debate’ campaign on social media where #demandthedebate was trending, right behind #NationalPartyLeakAgain, #BrashIsBack, and #IfNotJudithThenWho? A nationwide sky-writing initiative was canned after brisk southerlies turned the first attempt at ‘Demand the Debate’ into ‘Demon the Crate’.
‘Demand the Debate’ is National’s attempt to reinvigorate public discussion of the He Puapua report, which National claims to be part of a plan to create a new system of separate government for Māori. The unknown is how much public appetite there is for #demandthedebate, so if you have a view on this please post it on social media under the hashtag #debatethedemand. A tally of those posting for and against #demandthedebate under #debatethedemand will then be posted under #thedebatedemand.
As a man who has taken to undoing his top shirt button at public events, Don Brash knows more than a thing or two about seduction.
As it turned out, Don Brash was quite open about his involvement with ‘Demand the Debate’. He spoke of National needing to attract back voters who had been “seduced by the Prime Minister” at the last election. His view on this should be taken seriously because as a man who has taken to undoing his top shirt button at public events, Don knows more than a thing or two about seduction. He’s also a master of understatement, noting that “the National Party is by no means perfect” and, I assume, there are no means to make it so.
Don also knows a thing or two about electoral law, noting that donations of $15k to support the billboard campaign could be made anonymously. Except of course for the $15k that he donated.
Meanwhile, across the aisle the Government was wishing that $2.75m of funding to support a “Mongrel Mob-led meth rehabilitation programme” could have been made anonymously. It wasn’t. It was reported that the Ministry of Health successfully applied for $2.75m in funding under the Proceeds of Crime Act to support the Kahukura meth rehabilitation programme over at least three years. The source of the funding being from the proceeds of crime created an irony overload on social media. It was reported that the organisation running the programme has gang connections, some of the property the programme is held on has gang connections, as do some of those taking part in the programme. “Is Labour funding the Mongrel Mob?” was the headline question, a question that was not easily answered, mainly because funding hasn’t started yet. Once funding is underway, the programme will be externally evaluated by the Ministry of Health and the Hawke’s Bay DHB, and six-monthly performance reports will find their way to the desks of the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Justice.
It remains to be seen whether funding from the proceeds of crime ends up funding the precedes of more crime.
By my count there are at least 13 agencies and/or ministries and/or ministers with responsibility for either approval or oversight of this contentious funding – the Ministry of Justice, the Department of Corrections, Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry of Health, the Hawke’s Bay DHB, the Ministry of Education, the New Zealand Police, The Treasury, Oranga Tamariki, the Chief Science Advisor, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Justice. That adds up to a baker’s dozen of desks between which responsibility can fall if things go pear-shaped, and a circular firing squad of 13 finger-pointers if and when there’s a need for recriminations. Should that occur you can be sure that National’s police spokesman Simeon Brown will point out that you need “crim” to spell recriminations.
And it should be noted that while the New Zealand Police support the Kahukura funding, the New Zealand Police Association (the police officer’s union) does not, expressing the view that it was hard to imagine the funding doing anything other than “lining the pockets of gang leaders”. It remains to be seen whether funding from the proceeds of crime ends up funding the precedes of more crime.
Finally, it’s hard to miss today’s Howl of Protest as thousands of farm vehicles have come to cities up and down the country to protest what farmers say is increasing interference from the Government, unworkable regulations and unjustified costs borne by the farming community. The sheer number of city-bound tractors and utes shows there’s widespread demand for that debate. As one tractor-borne placard put it “If it wasn’t for farmers you would be hungry, cold, naked and sober”. Point taken, although depending on the circumstances I could probably cope being two of things.
Have a peaceful weekend.
